The present invention relates to airport luggage distribution and management, and more specifically, to methods, systems and computer program products for efficient and flexible luggage retrieval in a luggage retrieval system.
As airplane capacity increases for both passenger seating and storage space, the baggage claim areas of airports are becoming increasingly crowded. Accordingly, there is a greater need for effective crowd management in baggage claim areas. Crowding in baggage claim areas can take a variety of forms, including, for example, the clustering of passengers near the single egress points of the baggage claim carousels, as well as the need for passengers who have retrieved their luggage to work their way through the densely packed crowds with their bulky luggage in tow. Security is an even greater concern in crowded baggage claim areas because, as the number of passengers and luggage increases, the probability of a passenger collecting the wrong luggage also increases.